Hat-sweat and method of attachment.



R. BECKER.

HAT SWEAT AND METHOD 0F ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED fEB. I4. |918. i

Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

1&2809946 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Afro/Mfr rn: amm runs ca. rnoro'uma. wnsmuarau. n. cA

Fl. BECKER.

HAT SWEAT AND METHOD 0F ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I4, I9I8.

1,280,946. lPatented Oct. 8, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

il... im l A TTURNE Y m.: Hanns uns cmlwamvumo. wnmmcmm n cv vband presents an uneven appearance.

'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUDOLPH BECKER, OF ROSELLE PARK, NEW JERSEY, A-SSIGNOR T0 THE SINGER MANU- FACTURIN G COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

HAT-SWEAT AND METHOD OF ATTACHMENT.

Application filed February 14, 1918.

. drawings This invention relates to head coverings and particularly to sweatbands for straw hats and their method of attachment.

Heretofore in the sewing of sweat bands to straw hats by machine, as distinguished from hand sewing, it has been customary to fold a strip of cambric about a reed or wire and at or below the fold secure the lower edge of a leather sweat band by a zigzag or oversealn This produces what is known as the hat sweat. The lea-ther band of the hat sweat is then folded back over the overseam with the eambrie substantially flat and the hat sweat thus prepared positioned within a hat with the cambric in approximately its iinal position and with the leather projecting in the opposite direction out from the bottom ofthe hat. The hat and sweat are then stitched together, the stitches penetrating the hat and cambric only and being located as close to the lower edge of the leather as the fold therein will permit. Then the leather is turned back into the hat. In the usual practice it is impracticable to getmuch closer than oneeighth of an inch from the lower edge of the leather without marring it by penetration of its fold with theA needle. The hat sweats prepared as above described are sometimes made` in exact lengths and their opposite ends secured together before being sewed in and sometimes are made approxi- `matelyto lengthf In the former case they are said to be fitted to size and in the latter case untted. The fitted hat sweats seldom conform precisely to.the inner periphery of-the rim of the hats to which they are sewn, generally being either a littletoo large or a little too small. If the hat sweat is too large the operator cannot distribute the surplus uniformly about the hat in sewing it in, because of its folded condition, and in the'iinished hat the swit the other hand when the hat sweat is too ASpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8, 1918. seria1No.217,o51.

small its lower edge will stand away from the innei` periphery of the brim, because it is not stitched at the lower edge of the leather directly to the hat, and in the iinished hat the sweat band presents an unsightly appearance accentuated by the rounding away at the brim and crown junction.

lVhen the hat sweats are sewn in unitted to size, all the variations in size in the blocked hat are retained and exist in the finished hat. And unless the work is done carefully the lower edge of the leather will stand away from the brim because of the frictional resistance offered by the leather to the feed. Usuallv there isl an excess length which is cut olf.

`In the present invention a soft edge of needle penetrable material is secured in a substantially fixed position to the rounded edge of the brim and crown junction and subsequently the leather sweat is stitched at its lower edge thereto. The principle of the present invention is to provide a straw hat with a soft edge so as to reproduce at the inner edge of the brim the condition of a soft or felt hat and then to sew the leather to the soft edge in substantially the same fashion as it is sewn to the inner periphery of a soft or felt hat at the present day.

In the prevailing practice the essential steps have been first the stitching of a leather sweat band to an anchoring member or strip and second the securing preferably by stitches of the anchoring member or strip only to the hat crown as close as possible to its junction with the brim. In the present invention substantially the same essential steps are pursued 1n the reverse order.

y,leather sweat band and straw braid of the body.

It also aims to produce a hat having an ornamental seam or seams securing the lower edge of the leather in place which seam or seams are regular vin appearance and are not marred or detracted from by interlacing or intere'ngaging with each other. It also The invention is illustrated in the accomV panying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a hat in perspective broken away in part to disclose a sweat band and anchoring member or strip. Figs. 2, 3 and 4 showA diagrammatically successive steps in a preferred method of production. Fig. 5 shows on a larger scale a cross section through the junction of the brim and crown of the preferred form of construction. Figs. 6, 7 and S show diagrammatically successive steps in the same method of production with a different form of anchoring member or strip for furnishing the soft edge to which the leather sweat band is seamed. Figs. 9 and 10 show other forms of an anchoring member or strip corded to thicken the soft edge. And Figs. 1l, 12 and 13 show a machine for making a finishing seam which is visible Y Y in the completed hat.

The preferred form of hat is illustrated in Fig. 1. It comprises a crown 1 and a brim 2 constructed in any suitable well known manner. To the junction 3 of the crown and i brim portions an anchoring member in the form of a strip of needle penetrable material 4 is secured by a succession of keyed threadloop structures 5 disposed at Van angle to the crown of the hat and preferably at an angle of about 45O or more. More than half of the thread of seam 5 lies between the planes defined by the upper and lower surfaces of the hat brim as clearly shown in Fig. 5.. The attachment of the strip 4 to the hat body is performed withthe strip in the flat condition illustrated in Fig. 2, a portion 6 of the width of the strip throughout its length projecting outwardly from within the crown of the hat and a similar portion 7 vlying vwithin the crown in a. substantially parallel relation with the vertical wall of the crown. The strip 4 is then folded within the hat and about the seam 5 as a hinge thus forming inner and outer layers' 7 and 6 respectively of overlapping material. If desired the upper ends of the strip-4 as thus disposed within the hat may be secured in some suitable manner as by the stitches 8 indicated in Fig. 3. In the manner above described a fold 9, constituting a soft edge or ridge of needle penetrable material is substantially fixed in position at the junction of the brim and crown.

.A sweat-band 10, usually of leather, is

then positioned within the hat in about the position it occupies when the hat is finished j and secured by a nice appearing seam 11 to the soft edge or ridge 9 of the anchoring member or strip 4.

The successive steps pursued in the above described method are indicated diagrammatyically in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 and the product on an enlarged scale is clearly shown in Fig. 5. In Figs. 6, 7 Y and 8 substantially the same operations are performed in the saine sequence, the anchoring member being in the form of a strip 14 'an edge of which has been hemmed or rolled or otherwise formed as indicated at 15 to define the soft edge or ridge to which the lower edge of the leather sweat-band is preferably overseamed.

Obviously the soft edge or ridge to which the leather sweat-band is secured may be formed in a variety of ways and in Figs. 9 and 10 I have indicated how a cord 12 for instance may be employed to increase its size. f

The foregoing description relates vto the method as it is employed for attaching sweat-bands to hat bodies whose rims are entirely integral with the crown of the hat being made by stitching straw braid in increasingly large spirals outwardly from the center or button of the hat crown. A large number of straw hats, however, have what is known as an under brim which" is It is to be distinctly understood, however,

that this application is intended to cover the broad common invention disclosed in both applications to wit: the provision of a straw hat with a soft edge or ridge of inaterial substantially fixed in'position at the junction of the brim and crown forthe subsequent stitching of a leather sweat-band thereto at its lower edge.

Bearing in mind that this invention in its broadest scope is' considered to include first the securing in any suitable manner of a soft edge vor ridge of material in substantially fixed position at the junction of the brim and crown of a straw hat and subsequently the stitching of a leather sweat by its lower edge to the soft edge or ridge, it will be -obvious that the subordinate steps of securing the anchoring member in place and of the inventionrealized. Various changes may in fact be made without departing from the spiritl of my invention in its broadest aspect. The anchoring member, for instance may be attached to the hat body during the formation of the hat when the straw braid is being sewn in spirals or it may be secured in place by adhesives.

It is to be understood, however, that this invention does not comprehend within its scope the stitching of a leather sweat-band to a straw hat largely or entirely by hand as it is primarily intended to approximate in some respects and better in other respects a hand-stitched sweat-band. Hand stitched sweats are found only on the better grade of "hats, being costly. Owing to the limited `number of operatives who are capable of performing the hand stitching operation in a satisfactory manner and at a sutliciently `rapid pace to earn enough per diem to live f inwardly and upwardly away from the unction of the crownand brim. This has been done primarily to conceal-some of the defects of the existing method of machine, stitching leather sweats in place. In this invention this bell-shaped flare or tlanging of the leather sweat is utilized to insure a uniformity in hats of a given size. As before indicated the`hats of a given size, size seven for instance, are not of the same peripheral length at the junction of the brim and crown. Their peripheral length at this point varies from aquarter to a half `of an inch. lVith this invention sized sweat-bands may be stitched first across the meeting ends of the leather and, if they be too small, distended S0-b y manipulation at their lower edges. l'f they be too large, the fullness of the lower edge `of the leather may be f distributed throughout the periphery of the hat. Distention of the lower edge of the sweat-band would accentuate the curvature of the flange on the leather and a distribution of the snrplus length of a slightly overlarge sweat- :band would decrease the curvature of the flange. Thus by slightly increasing or decreasing the curvature of the flange or Hare vatthe bottom of a leather sweat-band, the 'present invention would enable sized sweats being sewn in by machine without variation in thefinished product. This is largely possible in the present invention because the lower edge of the leather band is overseamed to the soft edge of material at the junction of the crown and brim of the hat with the leather in substantially the position it. occupies in the finished hat thereby enabling the operative to drum it in in the desired manner.

It is to be noticed that the threadof the overedge seam 11 passes through a portion or zone of the anchoring member not occupied by the thread of the stitch 5 which secures the anchoring member to the hat so that the thread of the two seams does not interlace or interengage. This is clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings by the tangential relation of the lines indicating the thread and it will be noticed that the seam 5 passes through the 'inner layer 7 only of the anchoring member while the seam 11 passes through the outer layer G of the anchoring member and also through the fold joining the two layers. And it will also be noticed that the stitches 11 are disposed at an angle to and across the ends of the stitches 5. This is deemed to be a valuable feature of the invention because the needle used to form the overseam 11 will not cut the thread of the uniting seam 5. Over the method employed in hand stitching sweatbands to a hat this is also a distinct advantage because the threads of the two seams do not intercngage or interlace and retain their regular and ornamental appearance unbroken by an interlaced running thread, as in hand sewn sweat bands.

It will thus be seen that I have produced a straw hat by a commercial method permitting stitching with a. sewingmachine, in the resulting product of which a soft clasp or cushion like grip of the sweat band on the wearers head is assured. In a given size of hats made by the method disclosed in this invention the sweat-bands will be substantially uniform in size instead of varying apprcciably and necessitating retailers trying several hats on a purchaser to find one that will lit.

Any suitable sewing machine may be used to stltch the anchorlng member to the hat and there are a variety of machines on the market suitable for this purpose. To secure the leather to the al'lchoring member, however, the nice appearing seam 1.1 may be made in a connnerciallv satisfactory manner on a machine which is illustrated on Sheet 2 of the drawings.

In the machine shown in Fig. 11 the stitchforming instrumentalities` the needle 20 and the looper 21, as well as the presserwheel 22, the needle-guard 23, the cord-guide 2st and the sweat-guide 25 are constructed and arranged substantially as described in the patents to Grieb No. 1,206,433, November 28, 1916, and Prazak, No. 939,548. November 9, 1909.

' fingers `are oined lt is desirable to reciprocate the needle 20 in a path whichis inclined to the plane dcfined by the brim of the hat so as to penetrate the soft edge or fold 9 of the anchoring member 4 without breaking the continuity of the keyed thread-loop structures 5 at the junction of the brim and crown of the hat. To this end the head 26 of the machine is canted or inclined as illustrated in Fig. 11, being supported by a" vertical standard 27 which is arranged at one end of the base 28, the head 26, standard 27 and base 28 together constituting the frame of the machine and being preferably integral.

The hat is supported when the seam 11 is being made with its brim preferably in a horizontal plane and bottom-side up. The brim of the hat lies upon a 'work-rest 29 of T-shape in plan View having the free edge of its leg portion 3.0 curved to conform to the minimum curvature e. of greatest radius) ofthe crown of a hat, a depending flange 31 being provided to furnish an eX- tensive work-engaging surface. This flange 31 coperates with the periphery of the presser-wheel 22. The work-rest 29 is secured by screws 32 at its opposite ends to a pair of curved arms or levers 33 which are fiXedly secured in any suitable manner to a fulcrum shaft 34 located substantially at the junction of the head 26 and vertical stand-ard 27 of the frame. To the forward or free ends of thearms or levers 33 fingers 35 are hinged in any suitable manner with their upper surfaces 36 substantially in the same plane as the upper surface of the workrest 29 together with which they define a support for the brim of the hat. The fingers 35 are preferably'- yieldingly held against the crown of the lingers are preferably Vspaced an equal distance from and symmetrically with respect to the needle 20. To compel the fingers `35 to move an equal distance in opposite directions when a hat is inserted into (or removed from) the machine, the tail vends 38 ofthe together by a link 39.

To permit of inserting a hat into the machine the work-rest 29 and fingers 35 carried thereby must be dropped. This is permitted by reason of the fulerum support 34 at the end of the supporting arms or levers 33. The arms or levers 33 are held in their raised or operative position (shown in Fig. 11 of the drawings) by catches indicated generally by the numeral 40. Each catch comprises a stop or fixed member 41 suitably secured to the frame of the machine and a detent or movable member 42 pivoted intermediate its ends as at 43 to the fixed member. A tension spring 44 yieldingly holds the lower end of a catch 42 beneath an arm or lever 33 and by a chain 45 loosely connected with each of the tail ends of the mow hat by the springs 37. The

able Vmembers 42 `the arms -or levers 33 Vmay be conif'eniently released and lowered. lThrough the means above described the hat may be supported in a substantially horizontal position bottom-side up with its brim' at an angle to the needle-path and may be conveniently introduced into and removed from the machine.

Tt will be readily apparent that if the hat be rotated while its brim is between the presser-wheel 22 and the depending flange 37 of the work rest 29 it will be confined and maintained in angular relation with the needle so that the soft edge or fold 9 only of the anchoring member 4 will be .penetrated without piercing or breaking the interlocked or keyed thread-loop structures 5 by which the anchoring member has been previously secured to the brim of the hat.

The mechanism for turning the hat com-L prises a pair of gripping plates 46 having a limited articulation at 47 vwith levers 48 which are pivoted at 49 to bracket-arms 50'which carry springs 51 engaging extensions 52 lof the levers 48 to yieldingly urgel the gripping plates 46 against the oppositel sides of a hat-crown. vThese bracket-arms 50 are adjustably secured by screw and slot connections 53 to a block 54 which isihollowed out inside, its internal side walls 55 being disposed. in planes intersecting 'each other at right angles. The hollow block 54 is connected by a species of universal joint to an upright drive shaft 56. The universal oint consists of a knuckle 57 pivoted at 58 to the vertical shaft 56.

The shaft 56 is suitably fixed to a feeddisk 59 which is intermittently rotated by mechanism like that of the above mentioned patent to Pra-ZalgNo. 939,548. The feeddisk 59 has an upwardly extending annular flange 60 on which rests an actuating plate 61 cut away at 62 to loosely embrace the drive-shaft 56. At one side of andV beneath the plate 61 ay pair of blocks 637are pivotally secured by stud-pins 64. These blocks are arranged on opposite sides of flange 60 which they are adapted to grip when moved in a clockwise direction (as viewed in Fig. 11) but which they do not grip when moved in a counter-clockwise direction. A tension-spring 65 is fined to the plate 61 as indicated at 66 and also to a part of the frame as indicated. This spring pulls the annular the plate back and keeps the blocks snug Y from an eccentric 72 on the main-shaft 73 through a series of connections including a pitman 74, a ibellcrank 75, a link 76 adjustably connected :to a slottedbellcrank 77 which in turn is linked to arod 78 universally joined at its opposite ends to the before mentioned 1 bellcrank. 77 and; plate or lever 6l.

Preferably but not necessarily abuffer spring 79 is interposed between thel top of the knuckle 57 and the block54. And adjustable stops 80-81 may be provided to hold the work-rest in its lowered position.

The above mentioned machine illustrated in Figs.V l1 to 13 inclusive is not herein claimed as part of my invention because it forms a separate and distinct invention constituting subject matterfor another application to be filed contemporaneously vherewith.

The method anch-article of this application are not limited in their broadest aspect to straw hats and by the term straw as used in the claims it is meant to include allma- Iterial of a like nature whose character will not ypermit the stitching of leather sweat bands to the body of the hat, in the manner now employed institching sweat bands'to soft hats having brims which may be folded, because of the tendency of the material to chip or crack when penetrated by a needle.

It is also to lbe noted that the external band about the .crown of the hat conceals the stitches 5, and also the stitches -8 if they be used, securing the anchoringmember 4' to the crown of the hat.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

1. A straw hat-hav-inga crown and brim, a fold of penetrable material located immediately adjacent the plane ofthe lowersurface of the brim,` stitcheshaving a succession of keyed loops holding said foldofv penetrable material to the inside junction of the crown and brim portions, more than half of the thread of said stitches being locatedl between the planes of the upper and lower surfaces ofthe brim so that the fold hugs the inner periphery of the brim, and a sweat band secured by stitches at its lower edge to said fold, the stitches not penetrating the hat, and said two series of stitches being separate and distinct from each other so that the threads of which they are formed are not interlaced.

2. A straw hat having crown and brim portions, a sweat band, and a folded strip of needle pierceable material between the sweat band and the crown of the hat, said strip having thicknesses arranged side by side which are joined by a fold, a series of stitches through the hat and one thickness of the strip only and located close to the fold for making the fold conform to the inner-periphery of the junction of the brim and crown, a second series of stitches through both thicknesses of the strip securing it to the crown only of the hat, and a third series of stitches securing the sweat band to the fold of thestrip `and not entering the hat body.

3. A straw hat having crown and brim portions, a sweat band, a strip of material between the sweat band and the hat, a row of stitches securingthe strip to the hat at the junction of the crown and brim, said strip being folded over and covering said row ofstitches, and a second row of stitches securing the lower edge of thcvsweat band tothe fold in the strip.

4. A straw hat having crown and brim portions, a sweat band, a strip of material with a soft edge, a series of uniformly spacedv keyed-loop structures securing said strip outside of its soft edge to a hat with the soft edge substantially fixed in an accessible position at the junction of the brim and crown, and a second series of stitches securing the lower edge of saidsweat band to said soft edge of the strip only.

5. A stiff hat having crown and brim portions, a sweat band, a strip of materialwith asoft penetrable edge, a succession of keyed loop structures-securing said strip to the hat with a soft penetratable edge substantially fixed in an accessible position at the junction of the brim and crown, and' a second series of keyed loop structures securing the lower edge of the sweat band to the soft penetrable edge of the strip and being separate from and not interlaced with the first-mentionedl series of keyed loop structures.v

6. A straw hat having a crown and'brim, a sweat band, an anchoring strip intermediate the sweat band and crown, stitches -securing said Strip to the hat immediately adjacent the plane of the lower surface of the brim and at the junction of the crown with the brim, and additional stitches securing the sweat band to the strip immediately adjacent the first-mentioned stitches, the two series of stitches mentioned, being formed within separate zones of the material.

7. A stiff hat having a sweat banda strip of fabric folded longitudinally to form inner and outer layers connected adjacent the junction of the crown and brim" by a fold, both layers of the strip being arranged between the sweat band and the crown with the inner layer next to the crown and the outer layer next to the sweat band, at least one series of stitches through the inner layer only holding the fold of the strip close to the inside of the hat at the junction of the crown and brim, and a second series of stitches securing the sweat band to the strip, said second series of stitches being disposed securing the sweat-band to the penetrable material.

9. lIn the manufacture of straw hats the method of attaching a sweat-band vthereto consisting in stitching a piece of penetrable material with a portion thereof accessibly located adjacent the, junction of the Vcrown and brim by a series of interengaged thread loops positioning the sw eat-band within. and parallel to the crown of thehat, and subsequently stitching the sweat-band to the penetrable material with a sewing machine.

10. In the manufacture of straw hats the method of attaching a sweat-band thereto consisting in securing an anchoring member `to the body of the Vhat with a fold of materialV accessibly located adjacent the inner periphery of the brim, positioning the sweat-band within and parallel to the crown ofthe hat, and subsequently stitching the low er edge of a sweat-band to the fold of the anchoring member. Y c 11. In the manufacture of straw hats the method offattaching a sweat-band thereto consisting in stitching ananchoring member intermediate its edges to a hat body at the junction of the brim and crown, about the stitching thus made as a hinge folding member back on itself to define a .stitch receiving ridge of material, and subsequentlystitching the lower edge of a sweat-band to the ridge of the anchoring member.

V'12. In the manufacture of straw-hats, in which the sweat-band is attached to a strip, the method of attaching the strip to the hat which includes stitchingthe strip'to the hat and subsequently folding the strip about and over its securing stitches. Y

13. VIn the manufacture of straw hats'the method of attaching a sweat-band thereto consistitng in stitching a single thickness of (lopeso` this patent` may be obtained for vecents each. by addressing the Washington, D. 1U.

an anchoring strip to a portion ofa hat, flexing the strip so as to dene a fold or bend of material adjacent the junction of the brim and crown, and stitching the lowerV to thevbend or fold in l within the hat in substantially concentric .re-

lation and parallel with the crown, and subsequently stitching said sweat-band at its j lower edge to the soft edge of the strip.

5 15. In the manufacture yof straw hats the method of attaching a sweat-band thereto consisting in forming a strip of material with a`soft edge substantially conforming in size to the internal periphery of the brim, stitching said strip to the hat body by a suc-A cession of keyed loop structures,` the penetrating portions of whichV structure pass through the strip outside of its soft edge, and subsequently stitching the lower edge .of a sweat-band to the soft edge ofthe strip. 16. In the manufacture of strawy hats the method of attaching a Vsweat-band thereto consisting-in stitching a strip to a hat, fold-l ing the strip intermediate its edges to detine a soft accessible edge at the junction of the crown and brim of the hat", again stitching the strip to the hat, positioninga sweatband within the hat in substantially the position it occupies in the finished'article, and subsequently'stitching the lower edge'of the sweat-band to the soft accessible edge of the strip.

Y 17. In the manufacture of straw hats the method of attaching a sweat-band thereto consisting in reproducing in a straw hat the soft edge condition at the junction of the brim and crown' of a soft or felt hat, and r subsequently stitching the low er edge only of a `leather sweat-band to the soft edge while the sweat-band is in approximately its normal wearing position. y y

In testimony whereof, I haveV signed my name to this specification.

RUDOLPH BECKER. l

Commissioner of atents. 

